Instantly recognizable the world over � it�s hard to stay incognito when you�re ten feet tall and bright green � The Hulk has sometimes been a simplistic character, simply punching things again and again (the recent story arc, World War Hulk, was particularly guilty of this). But when writers like Peter David � the definitive Hulk scribe, as far as we�re concerned � get hold of him, Hulk and Banner become a psychologically complex, nuanced being with an incredibly complicated history involving Banner�s battle for control, which has led to Hulks green and grey. It�s been fun watching The Hulk become a major, major player in the Marvel Universe of late, with Planet Hulk, the aforementioned World War Hulk and the current Red Hulk storyline. Long may Hulk continue to (be a) smash.

FIRST APPEARED IN THE INCREDIBLE HULK #1 (1962)
CREATED BY STAN LEE AND JACK KIRBY

Lou Ferrigno was famously the first to play The Hulk, donning green bodypaint to do so. Strictly speaking, he remains the only human to play The Hulk, with pixels doing the job on both Ang Lee�s Hulk and this year�s Louis Leterrier effort.

The Hulk has a healing factor that�s even faster than Wolverine�s. He�s believed to be able to survive a near-direct hit from a nuclear missile.